Baseball and Blushes
by HideYourFeathers
Summary: Meet Roxas, future baseball superstar. There's nothing in the world that he loves more than baseball. That is, until she comes along.
1. Life

Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. Obviously.

So here's my newest story to keep you occupied while I take forever to update my other 2 stories...

I love the idea of a baseball fic, so I thought I'd try my hand at writing one!  
This story is loosely inspired by_ Princess Nine, _with a smidgen of _The Sandlot_ and_ A League of Their Own_.

_

* * *

Beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep._

Roxas jerked awake, drowsily groping for the snooze button on his alarm clock. When he finally smacked it, he sleepily checked the time.

8:30.

He yawned, and fell back down on his pillow. He could snooze for another 5 minutes…

His eyes snapped open.

_Wait a minute…_

All the previous days' events came rushing back to him.

He had graduated. He was no longer a high schooler.

He was _free_.

Excitement pounded through his body as threw back the covers and ran to the bathroom, turning on the water for his shower. After a quick shower, he threw on a plain white t-shirt, an worn-out pair of jeans, dusty sneakers, and his usual black and white checkered wristband. Then, after a quick glance in the mirror, he grabbed his phone, bat, and glove and made his way downstairs.

Any other kid would be sleeping in the first day of summer vacation. But not Roxas.

He wasn't going to waste THIS summer vacation. No sir. He had to enjoy every second of it before he went off to college. For most 18 year old boys, "enjoying" meant sleeping in until noon, playing video games, and partying every night.

Not Roxas. To him, it meant _baseball_.

When he entered the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to find his mom already up, sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee and a book. She didn't look up from her book as she asked, "Off to the field?"

"Yep," Roxas replied, grabbing a sea-salt icecream bar out of the freezer before he made his way out the door. "Bye, Mom!"

"Call if you're staying at Sora's," she called unnecessarily. It was more out of routine than anything.

Roxas grabbed his skateboard from its place on his front porch. Settling his bat on his shoulder with his glove on the end of it, he jogged down his steps, and hopped on his skateboard, gliding effortlessly up the sidewalk and down the street towards the baseball field, sucking on his icecream bar all the way.

When he got there, no one else was there. He stopped, picked up his skateboard, and made his way over to the 3rd base side dugout, where he stashed his skateboard, glove, and bat. Stretching his arms out, he walked over to the storage bin behind the backstop, where the bases and all the extra baseballs were kept. The lock that had once been on it lay rusted and unused off to the side, since no one ever bothered to lock the bin anymore.

Roxas pulled out the bases and busied himself by setting up all of the bases. It was part of his routine every summer vacation. No one would show up for at least another couple hours, so he would pass the time by setting up the bases, hitting into the backstop, and sometimes going for a jog around the neighborhood. He didn't worry about any of his stuff getting stolen; he knew everyone in the neighborhood well enough to know they wouldn't steal anything.

Ever since he was a little kid, he had spent every single day of summer vacation at the baseball field. Whether by himself or with the pick-up team made up of the guys in his neighborhood, he was there from early in the AM until it was too dark to see the ball. Even then, he would lay in the outfield grass, looking up at the stars, imagining himself as a legendary professional baseball player. Most of the time, Sora would stay with him, and they would recall the days best hits and most exciting plays (which more often than not were made by Roxas) and talk stradegy.

It would be no different that summer, he was sure. Sure, he had played for the varsity high school team. And sure, he would be starting as a freshman on the prestigious Destiny Islands University baseball team (Sora would also be going there on scholarship, but he didn't have a full-ride like Roxas).

But in the summer, he ate, drank, _breathed_ baseball.

And that was just the way he liked it.

The rest of the guys—with the exception of Sora, who loved baseball almost as much as Roxas—called him crazy. Obsessed, even.. To them, baseball was just a game.

But to Roxas, baseball was _life_.

* * *

So? _What do ya think so far?_

Yeah, I know it's not much...it's meant more as a prologue-ish thing.  
But the 2nd chapter will be up soon!

**Reviews are always appreciated!**


	2. Riku?

Sorry, I thought my update would be a lot sooner than it was...

* * *

After what he figured had been about an hour of hitting into the backstop, Roxas decided to take a little break. Dropping his bat, he plopped down on home plate and pulled out his phone. 10:07.

_Eh. He's slept long enough._

**To: Sora  
****From: Roxas  
**_Dude. Get out of bed. I wanna actually play with another human being._

Snapping his phone shut, he tossed it off to the side and leaned back on his hands, letting his head roll back and his eyes shut. Sora wouldn't be answering for at least another ten minutes. Sora loved his sleep and all.

Suddenly, Roxas had the strangest feeling that he wasn't alone.

Eyes snapping open, Roxas scrambled to his feet and glanced around. Huh. No one there…

_Wait a sec…_

There. By the trees behind the 1st base side dugout. He definitely saw someone there… A girl, maybe?

_That's weird..._

_**Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.**_

Roxas looked back at his phone, which was now lit up on the ground. Casting one last glance back towards the trees, he walked back over to the phone and checked the message.

**To: Roxas  
****From: Sora  
**_way to wake me up, rox. be there in a bit. blue or red gatorade?_

**To: Sora  
****From: Roxas  
**_Blue sounds good._

Stowing his phone in his back pocket, he looked back over by the other dugout. Nothing.

He scratched the back of his head, a confused expression on his face.

_Huh. Maybe I imagined her…_

_----------_

True to his word, Sora showed up about 15 minutes later, bat bag over his shoulder, cooler in hand. After setting his stuff down and pulling out his glove, Sora made his way out into the field about 20 feet from Roxas, who now had his glove on.

"Man, I still don't know why you make me come here so early," Sora said, yawning as he said the word 'early'. After a minute of stretching, he tossed the ball to Roxas, who caught it and threw it back, shaking his arms out a bit.

"You'd think you'd wanna sleep in at least _a little bit_ after last night," Sora continued, "I mean, we were at Tidus's until, what, three in the morning?" He threw the ball a little wide, making Roxas have to snag it with a neat backhanded catch.

"Yeah, well, we can't all sleep as much as you, Sora," he joked, throwing another perfect throw to Sora. "Besides, I need the practice."

Sora caught the ball thrown to him and let his arms fall down at his sides, an incredulous expression on his face. "Rox, you've been the best on the team since...." Sora paused thoughtfully, calculating. "…Forever! You. Don't. Need. Practice." He emphasized the last word with another throw, harder than the last few.

Roxas sighed. There was no point trying to argue with Sora right now. Most likely Sora would forget the conversation within the hour, anyway.

He wasn't very comfortable when people started talking about how good he was. He knew he was good, but honestly, he thought he could be _much_ better. And geez, people didn't need to make such a big deal about it…

"So, is Kairi stopping by today?" Roxas asked, steering the conversation away from himself, which he always did whenever anyone started talking about his baseball skills.

"Yup, she said she'd be up around 12:30." A goofy smile and blush showed up on Sora's face, just as it usually did whenever anyone mentioned Kairi. He had just recently worked up the courage to ask Kairi out, who had immediately grinned and said yes, kissed him full on the lips, then proceeded to ask him what the heck took him so long.

Roxas, along with the rest of their friends, had all breathed a collective sigh of relief whenever they had found out. They had all been annoyed to no end by Sora and Kairi's endless flirting-and-nothing-coming-of-it. Now that they were officially together, Roxas was happy for his best friend (and himself, due to a betting pool between himself, Tidus, Hayner, and Riku).

Sora tossed a grounder to Roxas, who scooped it up effortlessly and threw it back.

Roxas considered asking Sora if he knew anything about the mysterious girl he had seen that morning, but he decided against it.

"Geez, you guys have no life, I swear!"

Both Roxas and Sora turned towards the voice. A older boy with long, silver hair was making his way to the field.

"Ha ha, funny, Riku…wait, RIKU?! What're you doing here?!" Sora shouted.

Riku smirked, making his way over to them with hands in his pockets. "Gee, thanks for the welcome. I feel so loved."

"B-but I thought you were staying up at DIU* for summer classes!" Sora stammered. Riku laughed. (*DIU = Destiny Islands University)

"I am. I'm just here for the weekend." Riku turned to Roxas. "So, you guys gonna spend your whole summer here again?" he asked, nodding at the field.

Roxas nodded, tossing the ball up in the air to himself. "Yeah, most likely. We've done it every year before, so why stop now?" He took off his glove, holding it under his arm as he turned the ball around in his hands. "Though I think it's mostly just gonna be me, Sora, and Kairi this summer. Everyone else seems like they've got a lot going on."

Sora nodded. "Yup. Tidus and Wakka are gonna be training with the DIU blitzball team. Selphie's spending the summer at her aunt's house…"

Roxas nodded, adding, "Axel and Larxene are still in Twilight Town, and I honestly don't want to think about what they're doing…" Riku made a face, while Sora shuddered.

"Oh, and Demyx got a job lifeguarding at Atlantica Water Parks."

"How, I will never know," Sora joked, laughing.

Roxas laughed too, then said, "Pence has summer photography classes, and Olette convinced Hayner to do an internship with her with Ansem the Wise."

Riku scowled. "Hayner really needs to man up and ask her out already! It's so obvious that they like each other."

"I know, right? It's almost as obvious as lover-boy over here was," Roxas said, smirking at Sora. Riku laughed while Sora's face reddened.

"Geez, you guys are never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Sora grumbled.

"Nah," Riku replied, smirking. "So, Roxas, anyone catch your eye yet?" He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "No, not really."

Dating wasn't really important to him right now. He was too busy concentrating on baseball to find a girlfriend. Besides, he honestly didn't like anyone like that at the moment.

And he was perfectly content that way.

"Dude, we need to find you someone," Sora said, crossing his arms. Riku nodded.

"I agree. What about Xion? I know she's in Twilight Town over the summer, but she's had a thing for you for a while now, hasn't she?"

Roxas looked down at the ball in his hands, frowning. He remained silent.

Sora knew this was a sensitive area with Roxas, so he immediately jumped in and changed the subject.

"Ugh, I'm hungry! And all I brought was Gatorade…" he glanced disappointedly over at his cooler, which contained no food, sadly.

Riku rolled his eyes, then pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Well, I'm hungry as all hell, so I was gonna head to Mushu's. Wanna come?."

Sora nodded excitedly. "Yeah! I haven't had Chinese food in forever!"

Riku looked over at Roxas. "You coming?"

Roxas shook his head, turning the ball over in his hands. "Nah. I ate this morning. I'll just hang here until you guys get back."

Riku shrugged. "Whatever you say. I'll try to save you something, but no guarantees that this fat ass won't eat it." He pointed at Sora, who wore an indignant look on his face.

"Geez, that was one time!"

"One time? Try _everytime_."

Roxas watched them leave, bickering all the way. When they were out of sight, he walked over to home plate and sat down. He put his elbows on his knees and rubbed his face with his hands.

_He just had to mention Xion, didn't he?_

Roxas had known Xion since they were around 7 years old. Her parents were great friends with his parents, since they all went to college together. Xion didn't go to the same school as Roxas and the others; she went to an all-girls private school on the higher-income residential side of Radiant Garden. But even so, she and Roxas had always spent time together, since their parents had each other over so much.

Roxas had long since picked up on the fact that Xion had a crush on him. But he couldn't return the feelings. He had come to think of her as a little sister. He cared about her deeply, and was very protective of her. But he couldn't make himself care about her in that way.

And he hated himself for it.

Roxas was glad that she was spending the summer in Twilight Town. He cared about her, but he hated the feeling of guilt that washed over him everytime she hugged him, or smiled at him in that special way, or said something hinting towards her feelings. So he was glad to be away from it for a while.

But she had told him before she left that when she got back, she needed to talk to him.

He knew what was coming, and he didn't know what to do.

He groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, his head between his knees.

_Shit..._

"Are you ok?"

* * *

**Guess who? :]**

Not that great of a chapter, but it's a work in progress.

Reviews are _always _appreciated and showered with imaginary pineapple.


	3. Damn

_Wow! I got reviews!_  
Thank you ALL who reviewed! **I love you guys!** :D  
And thanks to all who favorited/alerted!  
Heck, thank anyone who actually read!

So this chapter may come off slightly corny...Hopefully not too much, though.

* * *

Roxas' head snapped up, and he was temporarily blinded by the sun.

When his vision returned, however, he found that he was looking up at a girl.

_Wha—it's _her_!_

Her head tilted slightly as she looked down at him, a concerned expression on her face. Her blonde hair was flipped over her shoulder, and her pale blue eyes were fixed on him.

After a few seconds of staring up at her, bewildered, he remembered that she had asked him a question. His face flushed, he cleared his throat and quickly got up off the ground, dusting himself off.

"Uh—y-yeah, I'm fine," he stammered, running a hand through his blonde spikes.

She continued to look up at him, head tilted off to the side. Roxas felt as if she knew he was lying, but brushed it off.

As he got a better look at her, he realized that she was actually quite pretty. Her pale blonde hair was straight and hanging over her shoulder. She was tiny, about a head shorter than him. She was wearing a simple pale blue t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts.

And she had the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he had ever seen.

_Whoa. Watch it... _

He blushed even more as he realized that she was still looking up at him expectantly. He coughed again, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you sure? You seemed upset," she said softly. He gaped at her, and a blush fell across her cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry. It's none of my business…" she stammered, lowering her eyes to her feet, which did not have shoes on them. "I should go…" She turned to leave, clearly embarassed.

"Wait!" he said, too loudly. She stopped and looked over at him shyly. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Uh, were you here earlier by any chance?" he asked, somewhat awkwardly.

Her pale cheeks turned slightly pink again. She nodded shyly. "Um, yes. I was taking a walk, and I saw the field. I was going to…but then I saw you here. And I thought maybe…you wanted to be alone…or something…" she trailed off, bringing her hands up to lightly tug on her hair, looking at the ground.

Roxas tilted his head, considering her. This girl was obviously very shy. But for some reason, she had come over to ask if he was ok. He wondered why.

"Uh, not really…I was just waiting for my friend to show up," he replied, smiling sheepishly. "I haven't seen you around here before. Did you just move here?" he asked, taking a step closer, hands still in his pockets.

She looked back up at him, moving her hands behind her back. "I'm actually staying here with my cousin over the summer." She smiled, then glanced over at Roxas' baseball and glove that were still by home plate. "So you play baseball, then, huh?" She said, seemingly more at ease than before.

Roxas grinned. "Yeah, a little. I come here everyday during summers. I love this place." He wasn't sure why he was telling her this, but for some reason, he felt oddly comfortable around this girl.

She nodded, understandingly. "I can see why. This is a beautiful field. Much better than the one back home." She walked over to the pitcher's mound, looking around at the field why Roxas watched her curiously. "I mean, our field doesn't even have baselines. Anytime we played, there would always be arguing about whether a ball was fair or foul." She giggled softly.

Roxas walked over to her, smiling. "You play?"

She smiled, hands once again tugging on her hair. "A little."

His grin widened. "Really? What position?"

She gestured towards the mound they were standing on. "Pitcher," she said simply. She glanced back at the glove and ball by home plate. "Though I haven't thrown in a while," she said wistfully.

Roxas had an idea.

"How about you throw to me?" he asked. She looked up at him, surprised. "I haven't hit live pitching in a couple weeks. I could use some practice." He gave her a lopsided smile, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the bat, ball, and glove.

She hesitated for a moment. Then she smiled back at him. "Sure."

He jogged over to pick up his glove and ball. He made his way back over to her, bending the glove into shape. "Um, I'm left-handed, though…" he said, frowning down at his glove.

"Great! So am I," she said happily, taking the glove out of his hand and putting it on. He handed her the ball, which she took and tossed into the glove a few times. She looked over the glove. "Hmm…looks like you could use some new laces. These are getting a bit worn out..." She took off the glove and tightened a few laces.

Taken aback by her frank analysis, he stammered, "Uh, yeah, I was actually planning on getting some new laces today, actually." He scratched the back of his head. "Ok, well, I'll just head over to home plate." He jogged back over and picked up his bat.

Roxas couldn't lie; he was excited. He was telling the truth when he said that he hadn't hit live pitching in a while, and he couldn't wait to hit a ball that was actually thrown to him.

He stepped up to the plate and shouldered his bat, looking up at the girl, who was stretching out her arm.

"Ready whenever you are!" he called over.

She nodded, taking her stance on the mound.

"Bring it on," he added. He could never resist a little trash talk on pitchers, even if this one was a girl. A rather attractive girl, at that.

The girl giggled slightly, then returned to her previous determined expression.

He took his stance, now focused.

She wound up. Her motion was graceful, slightly different than most of the other pitchers Roxas had faced in the past. She released.

_What the--?!_

The ball wizzed past him at a _very _high rate of speed. It hit the backstop with a _THUMP_!

He had NOT expected that.

Roxas looked back at the ball, then back at the girl, a bewildered expression on his face. She just smiled softly at him.

He shook his head disbelievingly and jogged back to get the ball. He saw another older ball there and decided to grab that, too. He tossed both balls back, then took his stance in the batters' box again.

_I WILL hit this next one…_

He was serious about his ball playing. He was rarely bested by anybody. Especially when it came to pitchers.

The girl wound up again and released.

This time, he was ready for it. Keeping his eyes on the ball, he brought his bat back just slightly, along with his front leg. As the ball came in, he saw that it was slightly inside, so he took a step, and drove his hips and hands towards the ball.

_Crack!_

Oh, how he loved the sound of a wooden bat. Screw everyone else who went with aluminum. THIS was the true sound of baseball.

But, as he followed through with his swing, he realized that while he had made good contact, the ball was foul, making its way into the deep left field corner.

He looked over at the girl, who was no longer smiling, but wearing an expression of fierce determination.

He smirked. Good. When pitchers did that, they meant business.

The girl wound up and released yet again.

This time, the ball was blazing right down the middle. But it was somehow even _faster _than before.

Still, Roxas wasn't named MVP and Player of the Year of the Greater Hearts High School Baseball League for the past 4 years for nothing. Shifting his weight, he brought his hands and hips to the ball.

_What--!!_

His bat snapped in two as the ball blasted off of it. The ball blazed down the center, right towards the girl.

It all happened so fast that he wasn't sure what happened. One second the ball was zooming towards the girl at a high rate of speed, and the next, she was on the ground.

_No…!_

He dropped his now ruined bat and sprinted to the girl, panicking. She was still on the ground, not moving.

"Hey! Are you ok?! Oh God—"

He didn't know what to do, she was just laying there. He went to pull out his phone, maybe call an ambulance—

"You…are out, mister."

He looked down, shocked, and saw the girl looking up at him, her face half covering in dirt. She grinned, and slowly held up her glove.

Which held the ball.

_Holy shit._

* * *

I was honestly considering changing this chapter just to mess with all of the readers who guessed Namine, but I decided against it.  
I'm such a nice person, right? :P

By the way, Roxas is one of those odd people who throw left-handed and bat righty. Though I would assume Roxas is perfectly capable of switch hitting.

_As usual, reviews are much appreciated! Feel free to make suggestions, too! :D_


	4. Namine

Woot! I'm proud of myself. This was a fairly quick update.

_Thanks so much to all you reviewers! :D_

* * *

Roxas gaped at the ball in the glove, then back at the girl.

When the girl saw his bewildered expression, she giggled, then lifted herself into a sitting position, arms around her knees.

Roxas plopped down across from her from his crouching position, putting his elbows on his knees and rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry about your bat," she said quietly, and he looked up at her. She was rubbing her one arm, glancing at the now useless bat lying on home plate. Roxas shook his head, chuckling.

"Why are you apologizing? That was…" He shook his head again, amazed. She looked at him with a questioning expression on her face, head tilted slightly to the side.

_She looks adorable when she does that…_

_What the hell?! Where'd THAT come from?!_

"Where'd you learn to throw like that? I mean, I've went up against a lot of pitchers, and not ONE of them threw like that…" He trailed off, shaking his head yet again.

She smiled bashfully, looking down at Roxas' glove, which was on the ground next to her. "My dad taught me," she said. Roxas could've sworn she saw her smile fade just the tiniest bit.

"He must be one hell of a pitcher, then," Roxas replied, grinning.

"Oh, he was," she said, sighing. He couldn't help but notice how she used the past tense.

_Wonder what that's about…_

It was quiet for a few moments. Then the girl spoke up suddenly, her voice noticeably more cheerful. "So where'd you learn to hit like that? I've never seen anyone with such a beautiful swing." She smiled, and he felt his cheeks go pink. He smiled sheepishly.

"Well, thanks. Uh, to be honest, I don't know. I've always kinda had a knack for it," he said, fiddling with his wristband. "I mean, I've been playing forever, but I never really thought about it much before. I just kind of…swing the bat." He scratched the back of his head, chuckling.

_Yeah, that didn't sound dumb or anything._

The girl giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

_She's so _cute_…_

_UGH, what the _hell_, Roxas?!_

They sat in the dirt and talked for a while, mostly about baseball. Roxas learned that the girl had been playing since she was 5 years old, but had never played in a real league, because back where she lived, they didn't allow girls to play in the baseball leagues.

Roxas lost track of time. He found it was extremely easy to talk with this girl. She knew just as much about the game as he did, so the conversation just kept rolling without pause. They kept talking until they heard a voice call over to them.

"Hey, Rox!"

Both he and the girl looked over by the street to see Riku and Sora walking towards them, each carrying a bag, presumeably leftover food. Only now, they weren't alone, as a pretty red-haired girl in a pink tank top and white shorts was now with them, holding Sora's hand.

Roxas hopped up off the ground, dusting himself off. Without even thinking about it, he held out a hand to the girl, who took it shyly, and pulled her up, too. He couldn't help but think about how soft her hand had been, even after she let go.

"Oh, Nam, so that's where you went!"

Roxas looked over to see Kairi skipping over to them, Riku and Sora following behind. Riku raised an eyebrow at Roxas, smirking. Roxas felt his face go pink and turned to see Kairi squeezing the girl in a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you or your parents I was leaving," said the girl, smiling as she pulled away from Kairi. "You all were still sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up."

Roxas, Sora, and Riku all watched this exchange in confusion. Kairi seemed to notice this, and, grabbing the girl's hand, pulled her over to them.

"Guys, this is my cousin, Namine!" she said brightly. "Nam, this is Riku—"" Riku lifted his hand in a small wave, still smirking. "—my boyfriend Sora—" Sora grinned his cheesy smile, cheeks slightly pink from Kairi's words. "—and it looks like you already met Roxas," she finished, raising her eyebrow, looking from Namine to Roxas.

Namine blushed, while Roxas let out a small chuckle. Sora and Riku exchanged a look, and Kairi looked oddly pleased.

"Nice to meet all of you," Namine said shyly, looking at all three boys with a smile on her face. Her eyes stayed on Roxas a second longer. Roxas felt his cheeks get warm as he ruffled his hair, a lopsided smile on his face. He saw out of the corner of his eye Riku nudge Sora, and he made a mental note to himself to kick them both later.

"Namine's staying with me over the summer, so she'll most likely be hanging out with us a lot, won't you, Nam?" Kairi said excitedly. Namine giggled, looking down bashfully.

_A whole summer? With _her_?_

_Namine…That's a nice name._

-----------

Later that night, when everyone else had gone home already, Roxas was laying in the grass in centerfield, fingers laced beneath his head, looking up at the stars like he usually did.

He was thinking about the day, running through a few highlights.

Namine walking up to him, asking if he was ok.

Namine pitching to him, and catching the line drive.

Namine laughing when Kairi bonked Sora on the head when he joked about Kairi tripped over second base.

Namine blushing everytime their eyes met.

_Namine. Namine Namine._

He chuckled to himself, noticing the reocurring theme. Then he sighed, smiling to himself.

He had a feeling this would be a summer to remember.

* * *

**Thoughts? Feelings? Randomness?**

Again, thank you all who read and reviewed! It really means a lot that you're all reading my story. :D  
There's a possibility that I might get an update in within the next couple days, but I might be pretty busy.  
SATs Saturday, PACKING FOR DISNEY, band practice, softball practice, luggage check-in, Walmart run, and LEAVING FOR DISNEY ON THE 17th! :D :D

Reviews are always always _always _appreciated, and I'll try to reply to as many as I can!


	5. Questions

Sorry, the update took a bit longer than I thought! :/  
Thank you so much for all of the reviews, everyone! Pineapple all around! :D

Oh, and a random side note: Considering changing up my A/N sections (I think that's what they're called?) The fact that they look like a part of the story (at least to me) is bothering me. So yeah, get ready for a sudden change! Not that anyone will really care either way, just figured I'd put it out there :]

* * *

For the next week or so, the four friends hung out together at the field (Riku had to go back to DIU), Sora and Roxas usually hitting each other balls and messing around while Kairi and Namine sat in the grass by the third base dugout, chatting and watching the boys.

Roxas wondered at first why Namine did not join him and Sora on the field—after all, she was perfectly capable of playing with them—but when Roxas had asked her once that first day if she wanted to play, she had looked up at him from the grass, smiling slightly, and replied, "No, I think I'll just sit and watch. Thank you, though."

He had been a little confused; after all, she really seemed to love the game. But he didn't question her, and went back to hitting Sora grounders.

They stayed at the field for most of the days, only leaving once or twice to walk to one of their houses to grab a snack. When it got to be too dark to play anymore, Sora, Kairi, and Namine would say goodbye to Roxas and head over to Kairi's house. Roxas would then take his place in the centerfield grass, looking at the stars and thinking about the day's happenstances.

Most of the time, he would be thinking about Namine. He would be lying if he said he didn't thnk about her a lot.

It was odd. Never once had he liked a girl (besides Olette, but that was in 5th grade), and suddenly he found himself wondering if Namine liked him, or would ever liked him.

And quite frankly, it unnerved him.

* * *

A couple weeks into the summer, Roxas was going for a early morning jog. He had woken up much earlier than usual, and since it would be another couple hours before Sora even woke up, Roxas had decided that a jog might be good for him.

However, as he jogged pass the baseball field, something caught his eye. He slowed, craining his neck, and with a rush of excitement realized that Namine was there. She was sitting cross-legged on home plate, bent over something. Smirking, he jogged over to the field and leaned against the fence, arms folded, just watching her for a little bit.

He could now see that she was bent over a sketchbook. She seemed to be deep in concentration as she moved her pencil (with was dark blue) across the page. Roxas noticed how her tiny nose was scrunched up in the cutest way imaginable, and how there was a small smudge of pencil on her cheek.

Adorable.

"Up a little early, aren't you?"

Roxas started as he realized that Namine had spoken up, not looking up from her drawing. He chuckled, then walked over to where she was sitting, standing over her.

"And you aren't?" he said, smirking.

"I'm always here this early," she said, making another mark on her paper before looking up at him with an adorable scowl on her face. "And you're standing in my light. Now move before I punch you."

Roxas laughed at her attempt to sound threatening, but moved all the same, taking a seat next to her. He made to look over her shoulder to see her drawing, but she shut her sketchbook before he could see.

"Awe, come on!" Roxas whined. "Let me see!"

"Sorry! Only a privilaged few get to look through my sketchbook," she said with a sweet smile, sticking the blue pencil behind her ear.

"And what is it take to get into that 'privilaged few'?" Roxas asked casually, smirking in her direction while nudging her shoulder with his own. Namine rolled her eyes.

"Well, for one," Namine began, "I would have to really know the person. And they would have to know me." She uncrossed her legs and stretched them out in front of her. As usual, she had no shoes on.

"Ok," Roxas said, after Namine did not continue, "Tell me a little about yourself, then."

Namine giggled, but shook her head. "Nope. You first!" Roxas opened his mouth to protest, but Namine cut him off. "You're the one who wants to look at my sketchbook, so you have to tell me about yourself first."

Roxas chuckled, then leaned back on his arms, stretching out his legs. "Ok, ok, geez... What do you want to know?"

Namine shrugged. "I don't know. Birthday? Plans after high school?"

Roxas snickered. Namine looked mock-offended. "What?"

Roxas smirked. "Can't you come up with more interesting questions than _that_?" He laughed at Namine's scowl before continuing giving an exaggerated sigh. "_Fine_…August 1st. Actually, I'll be heading up to DIU the day after. I'm gonna be playing baseball there."

Namine nodded. "I figured as much. What are you going for?"

Roxas frowned. "That, I don't know."

And it was true. While Roxas was sure that he would be playing baseball in college, he actually had no idea what he would major in. He had signed up for a wide variety of courses for his first semester, but after that, he didn't have a clue what he would do.

Namine gave him a small smile. "I'm sure you'll figure something out. You'll have plenty of time."

Roxas sighed. "I hope so. What about you? Where're you going to college at?"

Namine looked down at her hands. "Actually…I'm not going."

Roxas frowned. "You're not?"

Namine nodded, biting her lip. She said no more.

_Wonder why that is…_

Roxas stratched the back of his head, quickly changing the subject.

"So, uh, what's the deal with the bare feet?" Roxas asked, nodding in the direction of Namine's tiny, dusty feet.

Namine giggled, wiggling her toes. "Well, if you must know…I enjoy the foot freedom."

Roxas laughed, shaking his head. Namine crossed her arms and shot a scowl at him, although the corner of her mouth kept twitching upwards. "And what's so funny?"

Roxas ran a hand through his spikes, chuckling. "Nothing. It's just you are one, strange girl."

* * *

More of a filler chapter, to pass time in their summer.  
Although there WAS a few details that may or may not hold some significance. Hint hint.

As usual, reviews are greatly appreciated and showered with imaginary pineapple :]  
I shall do my best to reply to all reviews, but if I do happen to miss someone, I'm sorry! :/


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